36 m. ago Pat Cummins feels Ashes winners Australia have knocked stuffing out of ‘Bazball’

Cummins missed his side’s wins at Perth and Brisbane with back problems but returned to apply the finishing touches as the hosts secured the urn.

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3 h. ago Pat Cummins is in rare air as an Ashes captain. Can his Dad's Army go around again? | Geoff Lemon

He’s achieved an Ashes feat that few others have. But he’s still missing an outright win in EnglandStarc breaks England hearts again as Australia retain the AshesWhile it took longer than expected on the fifth day in Adelaide, eventually it was done. A series won, the Ashes retained for another year and a half until they next go up for grabs in England. For Pat Cummins, this makes three consecutive Ashes series captained without giving up the urn. The feat leaves him in sparse but fine company: the others to do it are Joe Darling, Don Bradman, Richie Benaud, Mike Brearley, Allan Border and Mark Taylor.It made things neater that Steve Smith missed this third Test, having captained the first two wins in Cummins’ absence, so that it didn’t feel like the full-time captain was swooping in to hoover up the stand-in’s lunch. Those situations can be odd, like Adam Gilchrist filling in to lead what was very much Ricky Ponting’s team, captaining two wins in India in 2004 before Ponting return...

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4 h. ago Starc breaks England hearts again as Australia retain the Ashes in tense third Test

Third Test, D5: Australia, 371 & 349?, bt England, 286 & 352 by 82 runsEngland show grit in Adelaide but fall short as hosts wins series 3-0The England supporters on the hill in front of the heritage-listed scoreboard never gave up and, to their credit, neither did their team. But in the end, despite losing Nathan Lyon to a hamstring injury, it was Australia who prevailed by 82 runs to win this Ashes series with two Tests to spare.Needing just 11 days of play to claim an unassailable 3-0 lead, Pat Cummins and his men equalled Steve Waugh’s sides in 2001 and 2002/03 for the fastest Ashes wins. This one, sealed after England’s attempt to chase down a record 435 ended at 352 all out, comes with an extra dollop of relish. Continue reading...

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22 h. ago Pat Cummins primed to pop the corks after bursting England’s fragile bubble | Geoff Lemon

Australia’s captain marvel, the ultimate flat-wicket operator, stormed into this third Ashes Test like he had never been awayOn a redundancy scale, attending the Adelaide Test and noting that Pat Cummins was good is in the realm of noting that the Torrens was wet or the cathedral was spiky. Still, on day four, any one of those obvious things might justifiably have caught an observer’s eye. Perhaps it’s more notable just how natural, how inevitable, it felt that Cummins was indeed bowling at his best in his first match back after a nascent stress fracture cost him the first two Tests of this Ashes series and any match preparation before that.England observers will spend four years until their team’s next visit pondering explanations for this year’s poor showing, inevitably including much examination of the lack of chances for their bowlers to adjust to Australian conditions. Cummins spent five months in the gym and the nets without once seeing the middle of a ground, latterly powerin...

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27 h. ago Ashes LIVE: Pat Cummins breaks vital partnership with the crucial wicket of Joe Root, as England's hopes of rescuing Ashes series begin to slide out of view

Ashes LIVE: Australia take a commanding 356-run lead into day four of the third Test in Adelaide, after a Travis Head clinic. With six wickets in hand, the Aussies will be hard to stop

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28 h. ago Zak Crawley and Joe Root show fight as England battle to avoid Adelaide defeat

The tourists face a monumental target of 435 to achieve an almost unthinkable comeback.

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30 h. ago Ben Duckett falls before lunch as Australia progress towards Ashes victory

The tourists were left chasing a world record 435 to avoid going 3-0 down in just 10 days of cricket.

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4 d. ago Alex Carey’s sparkling century helps Australia recover from early England Ashes onslaught

Third Test, day one: Australia 326-8Usman Khawaja digs in for 82 while Archer has 3-29After the pandemonium of Perth and Brisbane’s pink-ball palooza came an outbreak of more familiar looking Test cricket at Adelaide Oval. For the locals it was one to savour as their boy, Alex Carey, delivered a sparkling century at his home ground on an opening day that Australia edged.Not that England, 2-0 down and clinging on in this series, could be too downbeat. Ben Stokes had lost what appeared an ominous toss and, though far from perfect, his bowlers kept plugging away in 35c heat. At stumps Australia were 326 for eight from 83 overs – runs on the board but surely short of ambitions when Pat Cummins got the choice first thing. Continue reading...

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4 d. ago Alex Carey’s sparkling Ashes century steadies Australia after England strike early in heat

Third Test, day one: Australia 326-8Usman Khawaja digs in for 82 while Archer has 3-29After the pandemonium of Perth and Brisbane’s pink-ball palooza came a more familiar opening day at Adelaide Oval. It was also roasting hot out in the middle – 35C on the mercury – and when the toss went against Ben Stokes and his embattled England players, they could easily have melted.Instead, despite some sloppiness and Alex Carey’s magical century on the ground he calls home, the tourists kept plugging away with the fight that Stokes called for at 2-0 down. At stumps Australia were 326 for eight from 83 sapping overs – runs on the heritage-listed scoreboard, granted, but short of ambitions when the returning Pat Cummins got the choice first thing. Continue reading...

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5 d. ago Australia recall Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon returns after surprise omission for third Ashes Test

Brendan Doggett and Michael Neser make way and Usman Khawaja is left out despite being cleared for action

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5 d. ago Australia make big call over captain Pat Cummins for crunch Ashes Test

Australia’s captain is back to full fitness having missed the first two Tests

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5 d. ago Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon return for Australia in third Ashes Test

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5 d. ago Pat Cummins says Bondi terror attack ‘hit home pretty hard’ as tributes flow before third Ashes Test

Australia captain lives close by and takes his kids to beach ‘all the time’Players to wear black armbands and join moment’s silence in AdelaideAustralia captain Pat Cummins has said the tragic events at Bondi beach ‘hit home pretty hard’ as they unfolded on Sunday night just down the road from his home in the neighbouring Sydney suburb of Bronte.As the cricket world prepares to pay tribute to the victims of the Bondi beach terror attack when the third Ashes Test gets under way in Adelaide on Wednesday, Cummins and England captain, Ben Stokes, revealed the profound impact the massacre had on them and their teammates. Continue reading...

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5 d. ago Usman Khawaja left out of Australia’s XI for third Ashes Test in Adelaide

Veteran batter’s omission means Josh Inglis retains spot at No 7Travis Head to open as Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon return to sideUsman Khawaja could be facing the end of his international career after being overlooked for the third Ashes Test. Pat Cummins, who will return to captain Australia after what he called an “aggressive” rehabilitation from his back injury, has just about kept the door ajar for the opener.Cummins is one of two changes for the hosts as they look to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in this Ashes series. Nathan Lyon makes a comeback on his former home ground, with Brendon Doggett and Michael Neser the bowlers to miss out despite the latter’s five-wicket haul in Brisbane. Continue reading...

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7 d. ago Brett Lee hails current bowling attack as Australia’s ‘best ever’

Former fast bowler says attack has gone past his group from early 2000s‘The Australian public won’t recognise how good they are until they’re gone’Brett Lee has labelled Australia’s current bowling attack as the country’s greatest ever, declaring that Pat Cummins’ side have now surpassed his group from the early 2000s.Australia’s attack will take one step closer to being reunited in Adelaide this week, with Cummins and Nathan Lyon back in the team alongside Mitchell Starc. Continue reading...

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1 week ago Return of captain Pat Cummins leaves Australia facing key selection decisions for third Ashes Test

Cummins will be back to lead Australia as they look to seal the series in Adelaide

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1 week ago Alex Carey backs England over beach reset amid Australian media storm

The touring squad has been followed by photographers, television reporters and writers.

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1 week ago He’ll always have Brisbane: Michael Neser revels in sweet day of Ashes glory | Geoff Lemon

Stand-in bowler makes the most of rare chance on what could yet prove to be his final moments in Test cricket• Australia beat England by eight wickets at the GabbaIn the end, the only tension was whether Brisbane’s rain would descend before Australia could knock off the last 32 runs in the final session, and so whether going 2-0 up in the Ashes would be delayed until the fifth day. It turned out that England’s resistance through the light of the afternoon had only dished up some evening entertainment for home fans, with Travis Head able to put on a brief show in dispatching the pink ball over the fence before he headed back the same way.And still. Through the longest partnership of the series so far, 221 balls on the hottest day of the second Test, Ben Stokes and Will Jacks made Australia work in the field, something that was perhaps worth doing for the simple fact of proving that it can be done. With Mitchell Starc tiring after leading the line all series, the contest became a grin...

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2 w. ago Pat Cummins set for Australia return in third Ashes Test: ‘I’ll be good to go’

The Australia captain has missed the first two Tests with a back injury

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2 w. ago Steve Smith on top again after he resumes Ashes rivalry with Jofra Archer | Geoff Lemon

As Australia’s batting linchpin helps hosts pull away, England’s premier paceman is yet to get him out in a TestJofra Archer versus Steve Smith in 2019 is already Ashes folklore. The atmosphere at Lord’s that afternoon was charged in all senses, a huge slab of cloud bringing darkness to the day. Fresh off a match-winning World Cup final, Archer marked his Test debut with what was then the fastest spell recorded for England. Smith was in the middle of a Bradman-hued streak of 774 runs in seven innings. All that could pause him was a short-pitched attack of building ferocity, one that finally dropped Smith with a bouncer to the neck. It was a pure duel, the kind that cause spectators genuine fear.In the immediate aftermath, and again as Archer took six-fers in wins at Headingley and the Oval, one principal idea came up in every discussion: imagine, what might he be able to do in Australia? Imagine him on a fast and bouncy track in Perth or Brisbane. It was: “I can’t wait to get you to...

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